Recent Victories

Human rights activists Jaison C Cooper and Thushar Nirmal Sarathy were released on bail on 16 March, after being arrested on suspicion of being involved in unlawful activities because they had ‘proMaoist’ materials in their homes. Amnesty International’s campaign for them was highlighted in several media reports in India, and may have contributed to raising awareness about their arbitrary detention.

On February 7, India's Supreme Court granted bail to indigenous human rights defenders Soni Sori and Lingaram Kodopi, ending 2 and a half years of imprisonment for their nonviolent advocacy on behalf of locals caught between state forces and armed insurgents in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh.

In April the Indian Supreme Court ruled that the affected communities must be consulted if Vedanta were to go ahead with any mining. In August, all 12 of the local villages rejected plans for the mine. Without consent from the local affected communities, the project cannot go forward.

Aparna Marandi and her son were released on bail on May 6, 2013. She had been in jail since December 8, 2012, accused of being involved in a Maoist arson attack on a mining site in India's Jharkhand state. Amnesty International and other human rights organizations believe that she was falsely accused and arrested for her non-violent human rights activism.

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